


The Flora Mage

by bookfangeek



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Mage AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-18 00:31:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4685435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookfangeek/pseuds/bookfangeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ray meets a strange man named Michael, who claims that he and Ray are mages, Ray's life gets turned upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Central Park

The streets of New York were bustling with people, people Ray Narvaez Jr. would never even look in the eyes. He shuffled down the street, eyes downcast, hands jammed into the pockets of his sweatshirt. The chilly, fall air buffeted him far less than the judging eyes he felt from everywhere around him. Though he knew that, if he looked up, he wouldn’t see anyone with any interest in him, which was how he liked it. That was fine.

He visibly relaxed when he entered Central Park. The park had quite a few people in it, but not nearly as many as there were in the streets surrounding it. Ray meandered through the park, gazing wistfully at the plants that surrounded him. Finally, he reached his favorite spot in the park. It was located in a remote area of the park, where very few people came. It was the place where the flora was happiest, and where the only movement he could see was the occasional animal passing by. Ray sank down onto the ground with a content sigh. He leaned against a tree, closed his eyes, and listened to the rustling of brightly colored leaves in the breeze. He allowed the cool air to fill his lungs and clear his thoughts, and breathed in the scent of fallen leaves.

Ray sat like this for a long while, just enjoying the peace. When he finally stirred, he glanced around him to make sure nobody was around, pleased, he decided it would be a good time to employ his special skills. He brushed his fingertips across the grass, and, where he had touched the ground, a bright red rose bloomed. Ray smiled, all of his worries had been abandoned, he was filled with a sense of happiness at the sight of his favorite flower. He flicked his wrist and two more roses, white and pink this time, sprouted next to the red rose.

“Wow! Those are really cool!”

Ray’s heart nearly escaped out of his throat at the sound of a strange voice. He whipped around just in time to see a man about his age drop out of a tree. This man was about average height with reddish-brown, curly hair, pale skin, and a spattering of freckles, but what stood out most was how surprisingly muscular he was.

“Who are you?” Ray eyed the newcomer warily, and braced himself, ready to defend himself from a physical attack.

“Ah, fuck, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” the man extended his hand. “My name’s Michael, and you are…?”

“Uh… I’m Ray.” Ray cautiously took Michael’s hand and his eyes bugged at the feel of electricity behind it, a quality that many people have told Ray that he had. A quality that made him different.  
“You all right, Ray?” Michael jarred Ray out of his shocked state. “You’re staring at my hand like it’s a hot dog or something.”

“Oh! Um… sorry.” Ray withdrew his hand, subconsciously wiping it on his jeans. “Uh… I’m… your hand… I felt…”

“Oh, yeah?” Michael smirked. “You’ve never met a mage before?”

“Mage?” Ray glanced around quickly, he must be on a prank show or something. “Like… magic and shit?”

“Yeah, like magic and shit,” Michael laughed. “Don’t even try to tell me you don’t believe magic is real, I literally just watched you grow roses out of nothing.”

Ray shrank back a little. “I was hoping you hadn’t noticed that.”

“Yeah, well, I did,” Michael said. “But don’t worry. I can do magic too.”

Ray frowned suspiciously. “How so?”

Michael grinned and picked up a branch from the ground, he swung it around like a sword a few times; then looked at Ray expectantly.

“Um… I-” Ray bit his lip. He should have known. Of course it was too good to be true. He knew Michael was just going to start making fun of him. Just like everyone else. Ray made a move to get up.

Suddenly, Michael launched himself ten feet into the air. He swung the branch he was holding wildly, knocking branches off trees like it was nothing. He grabbed a large branch and swung in a full circle around it, like an acrobat. He let go and soared through the air, tucking and rolling when he hit the ground, ending with the branch held against Ray’s throat.

He wasn’t even out of breath.

Ray was speechless. That was one of the coolest things he’d ever seen. “H- how did you do that?” He asked.

“Magically enhanced combat skills and super strength,” Michael replied, casually dropping the branch on the ground beside him. “I’m a combat mage.”

“Combat mage?” Ray’s eyes flicked down to the stick, then back up at Michael.

“Yep! It means my magic is all combat-centric, not at all the most impressive type of mage. You’re a flora mage, super cool, also very handy to have around.”

“Flora mage,” Ray stared down at his hands. Hand that had once betrayed him, but now held new possibility. “So, then, there are other mages?”

Michael smirked. “Oh, just a few.” His tone held a small note of teasing, but not the harsh, mean kind that Ray had grown up with, but a kind of gentle teasing that was unfamiliar to him.

“How have a not met any mages before, then?” Ray asked.

“Well…” Michael shifted from foot to foot. “Most mages don’t live here in this dimension. We live in Veneficus. There are quite a few mages who have never been to earth before.”

“Venificus,” Ray repeated. He was shocked and relieved, and maybe even a little ticked off. He finally had some answers about who he was, but apparently, he’d been abandoned by his own kind.

Just then, Michael pulled out a phone and checked the screen. “Fuck, I have to go, my boss is texting me and he seems pissed. I’ll see you around, Ray.” Michael turned to leave.

“Wait!” Ray grabbed Michael’s wrist. “You can’t just leave! You’re the only person I’ve ever met who’s accepted me!” He didn’t mean to plead, he just didn’t want to see his only possible friend go.

“Ray, I have a job, I really have to-”

“At least exchange phone numbers with me!” Ray reluctantly released Michael’s wrist.

Michael looked sympathetically at Ray. “All right, I will.” He fiddled with his phone, then handed it to Ray. “Just fill out your information. Do you have a phone that I could-?” Ray’s phone was thrust into his hands before he could even finish the sentence.

There was a minute of silence as the two put in their contact information, they finished at the same time and exchanged phones.

“We can meet up again, right?” Ray asked, hopefully.

Michael smiled. “Definitely. I’ll see you later, Ray.”

“Yeah, see you.” Ray forced himself not to ask Michael to take him with.

Michael winked, there was a flash of light, and then he was gone.

Ray started at Michael’s contact in his phone. The _only_ contact in his phone, and a smile played across his face.

He finally had a friend.


	2. Achievement Unlocked

Ray tapped frantically at his Xbox controller. "C'mon... achievement... achievement... achieve-  _yes!"_ He threw his hands into the air, almost flinging his controller across the room as the achievement notification popped up at the bottom of his TV screen.

He had been trying to get that son of a bitch achievement for almost a month now, and his efforts had finally paid off! Now he just needed to figure out how to celebrate it...

As if on cue, there was a knock at his door. Ray sprang up from his couch and wandered over to his door. When he opened it his eyes widened at the person waiting outside.

"'Sup, cockbite?" Michael grinned as Ray tried to comprehend the fact that the mage he'd met yesterday just showed up at his door. Had he told him where he lived?

"Michael!" Ray exclaimed, after a few seconds of silence. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just dropping by," Michael said. "You up to anything?"

"No, not right now. Do you wanna come in?" Ray stepped aside and gestured to his living room.

"Sure!" Michael walked in, and Ray shut the door behind him. Michael looked around at the tiny apartment, the cracked walls and ceiling, the water stains, and, of course, the many plants, primarily red roses, that grew out of every crack, and planted in vases, scattered around the room.

"Huh," Michael said, "this place is..."

"I know, it's shit, I did my best to cover it up, but there isn't much you can do for a place like this." Ray felt his cheeks heat up. "But it's all I can afford right now."

" _This_ is all you can afford?" Michael gaped at the room. "How much do you _make?"_

"I, ah, don't... have a job." Ray smiled weakly.

"No job?" Alarmed, Michael turned to stare at Ray. "Do you have money?"

"I live off of welfare." Ray shrugged, his face was burning now.

Michael gave Ray an odd look. "Are you looking for a job, at least?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because nobody wants me around."

"Aw come on!" Michael said. "I'm sure you'd be great as a florist, or a gardener!"

"You don't think I haven't tried?" Ray clenched his fists. "It always ends the same way. I use magic  _once_ to help me with a tough job, and someone sees, they report it to my company, and now the entire company is scared of me, so they fire me. They  _hate_ me! They hate me because I'm 'different.' Because I'm 'unnatural!' Because I'm a goddamn  _'monstrosity!'"_ Ray's breath came out in shaky gasps.  _Calm down,_ he told himself,  _he didn't know, don't get angry, it's not his fault._ _  
_

"Whoa..." Michael looked shaken. "Earth has  _not_ treated you well, has it?"

Ray shook his head, and tears welled in his eyes as memory after painful memory flashed by.

"Hey..." Michael said, his voice slow and careful. "You got any booze?"

Ray flopped on the couch, silently thanking Michael for trying to change the subject. "No."

"No bevs?" Michael put on a look of mock horror. "Why not?"

Ray shrugged. "I don't like the taste."

"Well," Michael sat down on the couch next to Ray. "Since we can just skip over the whole getting a drink part, I'll cut to the chase. I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me. If you want to ask them, go ahead."

Ray glanced over at Michael. "All right..." He muttered, more to himself than Michael. "What exactly  _are_ mages?"

Michael laced his fingers together. "Wow," he said, "You really  _don't_ know anything. Okay, well, mages are human magic users, they usually have powers over things from nature, like you, but some have more general powers."

"And you're a... combat mage? What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means I fight really well, basically." Michael mimed a fight in the air. "I'm really strong, super strength comes along with combat magic, as well as heightened reflexes and agility. Combat mages aren't really that powerful."

"That what is?" Ray wondered how high up on that scale _he_ was.

"There are three most powerful types, actually. There's the light mages, the dark mages, and the ancient mages."

"Ancient mages?" Ray blinked.

"They aren't  _really_ old mages." Michael smiled. "They're mages who use strong, mostly elemental, magic. They're called ancient mages because people believe they were the first type of mage."

"Wow, cool," Ray said. "Do you know any?

"Ah, no," Michael grimaced. "But I  _do_ know a dark mage. He's... nice."

"Really?" Ray asked. "Could I meet him?"

Yeah. Sure." Michael shrugged. "Actually, that's pretty much why I came here."

"... to introduce me to the dark mage?"

"Oh. No. Well, kind of." Michael said. "I was wondering if you'd want to maybe come live in Venificus, with me and my friends."

Ray's eyes widened. "R- Really?! Yes! Of Course!"

Michael grinned. "That's great! I'll have Geoff figure out a living situation and a job for you, and then I'll come back and get you!"

"Geoff? Who's that?" Ray asked.

"Oh, Geoff? He's my boss," Michael explained. "If you're going to come to our world, Geoff will probably by your boss too, 'cause you need to work. There isn't any welfare in Venificus."

"That's fine, I can work." Ray agreed.

"Great! I'll let him know right away!" There was a flash of light, and then Michael was gone.

Ray rubbed his eyes and glanced at the TV, he had long since died, and his game was asking him if he wanted to continue.

Ray smiled, he felt that he had celebrated that achievement pretty well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda meh about this chapter, it's a lot of exposition and it's kind of boring.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how much of this I'm going to write. I'd like to see how people like it first!


End file.
